Speaking on the Keys and Gray Podcast, BeIN Sports anchor, Richard Keys, has shared some insight into Steven Gerrard’s final days as Aston Villa manager.
After so many years of broadcasting in the Premier League, Keys has built up a huge book of contacts, and understandably, he has some good sources within Villa Park.
According to Keys, he was told last weekend that Gerrard would be leaving the club, which begs the question why was he still in the dugout for the game against Fulham?
Gerrard already on his way
Keys shared what he’d heard about Gerrard.
“Gerrard sacked. I don’t know why he was in charge at Fulham. I was told last weekend from good sources within the club that he was done, and if I knew that then the players must’ve known that and the performance against Fulham, I don’t think Michael Oliver helped them, but they didn’t play well enough against a Fulham team who over the past two weeks had hit a wall,” Keys said.
Doomed to lose
Whether or not Keys’ source is accurate here is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that when credible rumours like this are doing the rounds, the team is never going to perform well.
As Keys says, if he’d heard that Gerrard was leaving, the players had surely heard the same, and that surely affected their preparation and motivation going into the Fulham match.
Villa, quite simply, didn’t look up for it at all at Craven Cottage on Thursday and it’s no wonder why if there were murmurings around the club that the manager was already doomed to be sacked in the coming hours.
It’s all over now and Villa can turn to a new chapter, but this isn’t a good look for the Midlands club at all.
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